Hundreds sleep out for homeless charities

Hundreds of people are braving the freezing weather tonight by sleeping outside to raise money for homeless people.

It’s the 17th year the Sleepout at St Albans Abbey is being held to raise awareness of what it is like to have nowhere to shelter and to be forced to “sleep out.”

360 people from around 9-65 years old took part in the event last year, raising just under £45,200.

The charities which will benefit this year are the local St Albans charity Open Door, Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter (DENS), Luton Accommodation & Move-on Project, Leighton Linslade Homeless Service and Watford New Hope Trust.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Beric Read, is just one of around 300 people taking part in tonight’s event. He said;

“I am participating on behalf of the St Albans charity, Open Door. This is an excellent cause and I encourage everyone to contribute something.”

“In some cases rain is worse, the damp is much worse than just cold. If people wrap up and make sure they have lots of double pairs of socks, lots of underwear, plastic under and plastic over, then they are well prepared for the weather.”